this morning on a special edition of "world news now" -- four more years. president barack obama is re-elected. >> from chicago to times square to the white house, an eruption of joy. the emotion echoing the excitement of four years ago. and in boston a gracious concession from a worthy opponent in the long, hard-fought and extremely expensive race.

>> a victorious president obama says "we are all in this together." now the work on the second term, creating more jobs, healing the economy, moving forward with health care reforms begins for president barack obama. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." and good wednesday morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. >> i'm paula faris. barack obama has been re-elected president of the united states, declared the winner just after 11:00 eastern last night. winning pretty much all the key battleground states including ohio on his way to clinch the 270 electoral votes that he needed. >> predicted a long night. didn't really end up being one. ended pretty quickly. electoral college, sweeping victory for the president. despite the big margin he won by in the college. the popular vote still a lot closer. that going down to the wire. there you see the crowd outside

abc news election headquarters in times square. they went wild when the race was called by the networks. exit polls show the president enjoyed 92% support among democrats. that is the highest on record for democrats since way back in 1976. speaks to the polarization of the race all along. >> unprecedented. the scene much the same outside the white house. supporters cheering, waving flags, even climbing some trees. the other scene of excitement in chicago. abc's karen travers is there at obama headquarters. hi, karen. >> reporter: here in chicago, the mood has been electric. the crowd erupted into thunderous applause when the networks projected that the president had won ohio and thus had been re-elected. the president didn't just win ohio he held his midwestern fire wall, wisconsin and iowa. we have been paying so much attention to ohio over the last couple month.

a critical state for their strategy. he won virginia, colorado, he won nevada. this has turned into a very big night for president obama. you had the sense from campaign aide early on as the polls started closing that they new things were trend in their direction and they were feeling confident. the president wrote two different speeches for tonight. a victory speech. and a concession speech. he was prepared for any scenario. tonight here in this room, before, newly 20,000, very excited supporters, he gets to deliver that victory speech. >> we are an american family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: reporting from chicago, obama campaign headquarters, karen travers for abc news. >> i'm brandi hitt in boston where the room fell silent the minute it was announced mitt romney lost the key battleground state of ohio and then the election. romney supporters were convince heed would win some of the key battleground states.

he just fell short in states like pennsylvania, ohio and also virginia. here is what mitt romney told his supporters after he called president obama to congratulate him. >> this is a to-- time of great challenges for america and pray the president will be successful in guiding our nation. i so wish -- i so wish that i had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader and so ann and i join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation. thank you and god bless america. you guys were the best! thank you so much! [ cheers and applause ] thank you! thanks, guys. >> reporter: mitt romney thanked his donors, volunteers and supporters and says beside choosing his wife ann, picking paul ryan as a runningmate was the best decision he has ever made. ron, paula. >> a gracious speech. had to be a hard one to make after two years thought of kind of schedule. this is why the battleground

states were so important. president obama racked up wins in the highly contested states including colorado, new hampshire, pennsylvania, nevada, wisconsin, and virginia. almost a clean sweep there among the battleground. >> didn't really need ohio. the president holding a slight lead in florida, ballots are still being counted could continue to be counted for a while. the state is too close to call not that it matters. >> few hundred votes separated it. really insane. the popular vote we said incredibly close. president obama, passed mitt romney by a sliver in the nation's popular vote. >> now we don't have final numbers as west coast states are counting ballots including mega state, california. democrats have strengthened their control of the senate taking two seats away from the republicans. the races that changed hand are in the states of indiana and massachusetts. and there is a wild card in maine, independent former governor angus king, elected to

follow olympia snow. he has not said which party he will vote with. >> obama re-elected. majority in the house and senate remain. marijuana legalized in two states, colorado and washington. gay marriage is legalized in maryland and maine. >> look at everything you listed, plus you look at the big role, latino population, played, and obama won the group by 70% you. have to wonder. heard the analysts talk about this all night. time for introspection in the republican party, because maybe slowly getting at a pace where the country is getting. a lot to deal with. the coverage of the election of president obama continues. >> we'll get some perspective on the campaign, the strategy and what lies ahead. stay with us. ♪ ♪ >> announcer: "world news now" weather brought to you by united health care.

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so after all of the rhetoric, the billions of dollars of ad, two conventions, three debates, hundreds of rallies and thousand of miles of travel, another presidential election officially right now in the books. >> we thought we would share some thoughts about it all from our abc news political analysts we begin with matthew dowd. >> reporter: the republicans argued against said no we well do it differently.

it didn't happen. they're going to have to face the future, there was no leader of the party, and an electorate much to their disadvantage. >> this was a campaign that has always had its doubters. i mean this was a primary where he was sort of, the third, fourth, fifth choice. we romanced chris christie. we romanced mitch daniels. we fell in love with everybody who wasn't running. i think that carried over. he never was able to get the mun kemun -- monkey off his back. i think that hurt him. until his stellar performance in the first debate. we didn't believe in him. that took its toll on mitt romney. >> four years ago, voters wanted to make history. this time around they wanted to make a difference. in terms of somebody they felt was on their side to create jobs, somebody, health care, keep the country safe and sound. this is a mazing. >> he has some immense challenges ahead. there are huge divide in this

country. he has not healed them. if he is going to have a second term that is going to be successful. he has to figure out a we to heal the divide. >> analysis will continue for days and weeks now, post election. all right, coming up next from legalizing marijuana to same-sex marriage, key ballot measures decided around the country. >> after 500 days, the speeches that capped the long campaign. it is all coming up on "world news now." ♪

welcome back, everybody. time to hear more now from the candidates themselves. >> first up, the newly re-elected president obama. >> i believe we can keep the promise of our founding, the idea if you are welling to work hard it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love, it doesn't matter whether you are black or white or hispanic or asian, or native american, or young, or old, or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in america! if you are willing to try! i believe we can seize this future together! because we are not as divided as our politics suggests!

we're not as cynical as the pundits believe! we are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions. and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. we are and forever will be the united states of america! and together, with your help and god's grace, we will continue our journey forward. >> earlier mitt romney spoke to supporters in boston. >> he said the nation is at a critical point. >> i have just called president obama to congratulate him on his victory, his supporters and his campaign, also deserve congratulations. i wish all of them well, but particularly, the president, the first lady and their daughters. this is a toime of great challenges for america and i pray that the president will be

sequester s successful guiding our nation. the nation is at a critical point. at a time like this we can't risk beckering and posturing. our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people's work. we look at democrats and republicans in government to put the people before the politics. i believe in america, i believe in the people of america. >> and, we turn to the senate races. the battle for the senate seat in massachusetts was among the most closely watched and most expensive races in the entire country. candidates spent $68 million on that campaign. >> elizabeth warren, harvard law professor, swept incumbent scott brown from office. the contest for senate in connecticut was a big money race, christopher murphy defeated former wrestling executive linda mcmahon her

second defeat in two tries. spent $100 million of her own money in the losing efforts. moving to missouri now, claire mccaskill has beaten back republican challenge from todd aiken. aiken talked about pregnancies resulting from what he called legitimate rape. >> both canndidates who made controversial remarks lost. 435 races, republicans have won 209 seats. leading in the races for 29 seats. >> the democrats have won 155 seats. they're leading in the races for 39 seats. but at the end of the day, you still have the majority republicans in the house. majority democrats in the senate. interesting tidbit from jonathan karl. he said nancy pelosi is rather than retire, rather than continue as minority leader.

poe ten sthal chatential changer echelon. >> a shackke-up after election. interesting to see if they can go become to capitol hill and practice the partisanship. boehner, said this was not a mandate. popular vote, very close. hopefully the president has gotten the message. close, popular, and congress got the message they re-elected the president they have to got together and work it out. that's what americans want to see. in case you are wondering thought the list was fascinating, the groups that staunchly supported the president could be the reason he got re-elected. folks in order here by numerical support. top five groups, thought the country headed in the right direction, big supporters, african-americans, as expected. democrats, best in 76, party loyalty. those who felt economy was moving in a positive direction, they went heavy for the president, those who thought the economy was getting better went

for the president. he did well among those that thought romney's approximately seize would benefit the wealthy. >> huge lead among unmarried women. 38 points for the president. definitely opened it up there. 10% of the latino volt. latinocomprised 10% of the vote. >> first time in double digits. went for president obama, in his speech, mentioned again we have to do what we can in terms of embracing and getting that actually going. >> we'll see. again, a lot of talk tonight. see what happens on capitol hill. >> just see some hugging. please. >> yeah. as millions went to the polls tuesday. no sur pry. everything did not go off without a hitch. >> most hassles were isolated. none appeared that substantial. many voters expressing frustration. >> i'm actually late for work right now. it's about two hours. the lines were in shambles.

it was crazy. >> i have been to this poll several times, but today the line was poorly organized. >> i can attest to that as well. even before lunchtime tuesday, a handful of partisan voting dispute started spilling into courtrooms. most legal battles were in swing states. no surprise there. >> the legal battles don't mean much, the victory so lopsided electorally. turnout was strong throughout the country. a good sign in parts of new york and new jersey. of course, battlered by hurricane sandy. >> thousand could not vote at usual poll locations, they took buses or shared ride. many said it felt like a return to normalcy, a change from the on going crisis. only thing i have. lost my home, everything, only had my freedom to vote. >> had to be a welcome distraction. folks in the dark. a week later. colorado and washington have become the first statesen the country to legalize,

recreational marijuana use. >> what did you say? >> recreational marijuana use. >> it will allow adults to possess small amounts of pot. >> a federal law in place. now the issue will likely end up in front of the supreme court. a similar initiative was voted by voters in oregon. >> much more on that you can believe. for the first time, same-sex marriage approved by popular vote with ballot initiatives passing in maryland and maine. still too early to tell if washington, itself, will follow suit. but voters in minnesota said no to placing a ban on gay marriage in the state's constitution. >> californians voted for repeal to the death penalty. the sentences of 700 death row prisoners will now be changed to life in prison. in oklahoma they voted to wipe out all affirmative action programs in state government hiring, education, and contracting practices. also a coup for all the women out there. we will have a record number of women in the senate.

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i'm done! [ chuckles ] sweet [ female announcer ] swiffer's wet mopping cloths can clean better than mops in half the time swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. well areas hard hit by hurricane sandy just last week are bracing for a second punch from mother nature later today. >> a nor'easter packing heavy wind, rain and snow has much of new york and new jersey on high alert. some residents in parts of staten island, new york, are being told they should evacuate, hundred of nursing home residents along the coast in queens have been relocated. >> not what they want or needed. let's check in with accuweather's jim dickey and he

has got the latest on the storm's track. >> good morning, rob, paula. here is our budding storm system here this morning. brought rainfall to coastal north carolina through tuesday evening. strengthen, move its way forward. what can we expect? the system moving faster than it first anticipated. through the morning hours, start to see rain, gusty wind. rain out of the north-northeast. the term, nor'easter here. coastal flooding, additional beach erosion, and unfortunately impacted by sandy. should be noted this is not sandy. not going to bring the same impact. impactful all the same. heavy ran up the coast. inland. philadelphia could be seeing light accumulations with snow. rob, paula, back to you. >> jim, thank you a lot. rough day. here we go. recap of the top story. president obama has secured another four years in the white house. >> governor mitt romney conceded the race before 1:00 this morning eastern following a phone call to the president. in a short concession speech, m.

romney wished the president well in guiding the nation. >> the president took his turn at the podium in chicago, just a short time later. and promised to reach out to the other side in his second term. democrats have strengthened their control of the senate by taking two seats away from the republicans. the races that changed hands indiana and massachusetts. >> get this? a wild card in maine, the former governor angus king was to replace olympia snow. he has not said what party he will vote with. >> some lobbying on both side to come over. that is for sure. what a fascinating night. it really was. don't think any one saw it. knew it would be close. popular vote does reflect that. awe. >> romney advisers, seemed lech they had no idea it was coming, blindsided by the results. >> analysts said both side

thought they would win. one side would be happy. one side very much disappointed. it is what it is. that is our news for this half-hour. >> we'll leave you with some of the elections' most memorable images. you are watching "world news now." ♪ ♪ what does home feel like? it's in the faces of americans who built generations of memories in their home and then saw it slipping away.

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this morning on a special edition of "world news now" -- four more years. president barack obama is re-elected. >> from chicago to times square to the white house an eruption of joy. >> four more years. >> the emotion echoing the excitement of four years ago. >> and in boston, a gracious concession from a worthy opponent in the long, hard-fought and extremely expensive race. >> a victorious president obama says we are all in this

together. now the work on a second term, creating more jobs, healing the economy, moving forward with health care reforms begins for president barack obama. good morning, everyone, i'm paula faris. >> i'm rob nelson. an abbreviated version of "world news now." we'll check in live with "nightline" in just a second. for right now it is official. america has rehired the president. he won last night. handling the electoral college, and coming back in january for a second term. so it really was kind of a stunning night here. he really -- and most of the battleground if not all, won, fought back romneyen all of the cases. saw a very gracious concession speech from governor romney. clearly disappointed. went to a raucous scene in chicago with the president. still very much a divided

country. look at the electoral college it wasn't close. in the popular vote the was really close. i think the points, come out of this, this was not necessarily a mandate. you know, the government has stayed the same. democrats going to run the senate. republicans have the house. and the president goes back to the white house. back where we started after all the money. >> $6 billion. >> real test of the president's theory that the election will break the fever in washington now the american people have sent him back and maybe signal to congress to get out of obstructionist mode and say look we have to work together now we are liked into this thing for four more years now that obama has a second term. >> one of the first items of business has to be just preventing the fiscal cliff we have heard so much about. the president saying he was going to invite, governor, governor romney and have a talk with him and pick his brain. >> bipartisan tone. see how long it lasts. >> we did hear from the president and mitt romney, an hour ago, the speech was decisive, and in the

battleground states that were up for grabs. we'll got to boston in a moment. we begin with karen travers at obama headquarters, hi, karen. >> here in chicago the mood has been electric. the crudowd erupted when the networks predicted obama won ohio and thus had been re-elected. the president didn't just win ohio. he held his midwestern fire wall, wisconsin and iowa. we have been paying so much attention to ohio over the last couple month. a critical state for their strategy. he won virginia, colorado, he won nevada. this has turned into a very big night for president obama. you had the sense from campaign aide early on as the polls started closing that they new things were trend in their direction and they were feeling confident.

the president wrote two different speeches for tonight. a victory speech. and a concession speech. he was prepared for any scenario. tonight here in this room, before, newly 20,000, very excited supporters, he gets to deliver that victory speech. >> we are an american family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: reporting from chicago, obama campaign headquarters, karen travers for abc news. >> i'm brandi hitt in boston where the room fell silent the minute it was announced mitt romney lost the key battleground state of ohio and then the election. romney supporters were convince he would win some of the key battleground states. he just fell short in states like pennsylvania, ohio and also virginia. here is what mitt romney told his supporters after he called president obama to congratulate him. >> this is -- time of great challenges for america and pray the president will be successful in guiding our nation. i so wish -- i so wish that i had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader and so ann and i join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation.

thank you and god bless america. you guys were the best! [ cheers and applause ] thank you! thanks, guys. >> reporter: mitt romney thanked his donors, volunteers and supporters and says beside choosing his wife ann, picking paul ryan as a runningmate was the best decision he has ever made. rob and paula. our coverage continues now with a special edition of "nightline." thank you for watching. tonight on "nightline." four more years. it's official. after a nail biter of a race for the white house, tonight, barack obama has defeated mitt romney. and victory and defeat. terry moran is live from the winner's circle at obama headquarters in chicago. and bill weir from the romney campaign in boston. to bring us to the heart of the action this historic evening.

plus, the contentious race in the rearview mirror the nation speaks. whatter use matter most to voters tonight and what's next for the president and the country? >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news with terry moran in chicago, illinois, bill we if ren boston, massachusetts, and cynthia mcfadden in new york city this is a special edition of "nightline," election, "your voice, your vote." good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. tonight another four years for president barack obama. as a night of hard-won battleground state wins propelled him to victory over mitt romney. all the votes have not yet ben counted. as of right now the president has 303 electoral votes. well over the 270 votes required to win. mitt romney has 206. as for the popular vote, a thinner margin. barack obama with just over 55

million. mitt romney with just about 1 million fewer votes. tonight thousand of obama supporters poured into the streets of washington december tdecember -- washington, d.c. to celebrate outside the white house. here in times square, outside, abc's own election headquarters. thousand more, cheering and waving signs. but right now in chicago, my co-anchor terry moran reports from the biggest sell brags eg them all with president obama and his campaign. terry. >> what a night it was. cleaning up behind me. chicago is going to be rocking all night. no question. victory is sweet for president obama and his supporters. maybe sweeter this time than it was the last time. last time he soared into office on wind of optimism and moment of history.

this time, he and they, this new american electorate that we see crystallized tonight, more diverse, younger, a new 21st century american electorate, they did the work that if swept him into office. the last time he kind of led them into power. but there is no question he realizes who did the hard work tonight in his victory speech, he made a point -- of saying how grateful he was to them for all their hard work. here's what he said. >> thank you for believing all of the way. through every hill. through every valley. you lifted me up. the whole way. and i will always be grateful. for everything that you have done and all of the incredible work that you have put in. >> it was a tough campaign. and it was tough personally at times as well.

you got the sense that these twer t were two guys that didn't look each other, especially, obama, got his clock cleaned in the debate, sitting next to romney, almost a look of disdain on his face tonight he realizes he is not just the president of the people who were partying here, he has got to be the president of all the country and reach out to the man he vanquished, mitt romney, in a gesture that will be very interesting to see how it plays out. the president tonight in his victory speech invited mitt romney to sit down for a conversation about what they can does together for the country that they have battled over for so long. here's what he had to say. >> i just spoke with governor romney, i congratulated him and paul ryan on a hard-fought campaign. [ cheers and applause ] we may have battled fiercely,

but it is only because we love this country deeply. we care so strongly about its future. and in the weeks ahead i also look forward to sitting down with governor romney to talk where we can work together to move this country forward. >> well, we know it won't be a beer summit, but it will be interesting to see what those two men can do to bind up the nation's wounds. after what was a bitter, hard-fought campaign, and one that as all the exit polls are showing reflects deep divisions in this country along lines that are more than about ideas, who we are, an american electorate crystallized behind mitt romney, mitt romney, drawing most of his votes from white america. how does president obama square that circle? well to night he went back to some of the very same language that inspired so many in the country in 2008. he quoted himself, once again,

reaching for that -- those tones of hope, and aspiration in his victory speech tonight. listen to what he had to say and see if it rings any bells. >> i believe we can seize this future together! because we are not as divided as our politics suggest. we're not as cynical as the pundits believe. we are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions. and we were remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. we are and forever will be the united states of america. and together, with your help, and god's grace, we will continue our journey forward. and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on earth. thank you, america. god bless these united states. >> obama, the orator again. what about obama the chief

executive? what is he going to do? what is the policy for the next four years. he did touch on that. he talked about the work that need to be done. laying out in very broad strokes the kind of agenda he foresees pursuing with the republican house of representatives in washington. >> you elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. and in the coming weeks and months i am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together. reducing our deficit, reforming our tax code, fixing our immigration system, freeing ourselves from foreign oil, we have got more work to do. >> all right, joined now by chief white house correspondent, jake tapper. jake, this is a sweet victory, no question about it. what has he won, though, what do you think he now has got the mandate or the power to do going forward?

>> well i can tell you what he hopes. he hopes in his word, that the republican fever will break. the determination to defeat him, the determination to -- to obstruct what he wants to do. in his view. and he is hoping that because -- he won, they no longer have an obama second term to prevent, he can work with them. on immigration reform, on tax reform, those are some of the issues that they talked about before tonight and the president mentioned this evening. >> good luck on that. every election tells us something about ourselves as a country, what do you think we learned today? >> that the nation is changing. and perhaps in some ways the republican party has not yet figured out that those demographic changes are taking place. and i think, politically that's the one thing. and more broadly, that, that we still are a divided nation, retreating into our own corners more. >> do you foresee, some one who

reports on this every day. compromise happening. the bipartisanship the country yearns for so much is there a chance of that? >> no one ever went broke, betting, it's tough. on the other hand. i think, the point is -- that -- that there has to be compromise in the coming week as you know because of the fiscal cliff everyone is confronting. >> jack tapper, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> you will be on "good morning america" as well. >> got to get an hour's sleep. >> no rest for the weary. that's the scene from here, a sweet victory for president obama with a lot of work ahead. >> thank you very much to you, terry. and to you, jake. just ahead, mitt romney's gracious concession speech. we'll go live to the romney camp in boston and my co-anchor bill weir has the latest.

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this special edition of "nightline." "election night, your voice,

your vote," for those of you just joining us this message might say it all. just before midnight, president barack obama sent this tweet. another four years, along with this photograph of himself with the first lady. an hour later, governor mitt romney called the president and conceded defeat. my co-anchor bill weir has been with the romney campaign for the final two days and comes to us from boston where supporters gathered earlier to hear a brief but gracious speech from mr. romney. bill. >> reporter: it was gracious. mittromney.com live streamed the president's victory speech, a classy move here tonight. really shakespearean when you look at the family on the stage behind me. when you kid mitt romney's father ran for president and lost. his mother ran for senate and lost. he spent the better part of his 60s focused on this night and after countless hand shakes and countless donor calls and airline miles and campaign

stops, i guess it's not surprising that tonight saw, perhaps the shortest speech of his political career, definitely the most painful. as for the people in this room, people who have gone the distance, given heart, souls, a lot of money into a within tonight. well they left completely shattered after a night of well, frankly yo-yoing emotions. >> after all the money spent, all the tight polls, victory crowd gathered with electric e laegs y -- elation going into a championship fight. state-by-state, blow by blow they watched their worst nightmare unfold. >> president obama with a lead in ohio. holding on to a small lead in florida. >> on the big screens in the hall, fox news called ohio for obama. >> fox news can project that president obama will win ohio. >> the crushing disapointment begin to spread. then former george w. adviser,

karl rove raised the possibility that his network was wrong that ohio was still in play. >> do you believe that ohio has been settled? >> no. i don't. we got a quarter of the vote. >> reporter: as a result in this room, tears turned to cheers. but the emotional roller coaster ride only made things worse in the end. after an hour long wait, governor romney conceded. >> and i pray the president will be successful in guiding our nation. the nation as you know is at a critical point, at a time like this we can't risk partisan bickering and political posturing. >> from the die hard supporters beggest cheers came from his runningmate. >> beside my wife ann, paul is the best choice i have ever made. >> reporter: an even bigger ovation for this sentiment. >> i believe in america, i believe in the people of

americ america. >> there were a few shouts of run again. but after watching his father's unsuccessful run and going through his own seven-year disappointing quest, this is likely the last exit for mitt romney. >> thank you, guys! >> well, yes, it is tough to swallow. yes i had high hopes for our country going in a different direction. >> reporter: well, so tonight, a lot of mourning and wound licking, to be expected. but then perhaps starting tomorrow, a lot of soulsearching among the leadership of the republican party. the future of this party, some will argue that their candidate, that lust here to night was not conservative enough. that it is, at his core he was a massachusetts technocrat who shifted some social positions in order to get the nomination.

those in the tea party are gu they need a more pure conservative, the kind that helped sweep the house two years ago. but then, actually, backfired tonight if you look at the senate races and seats they lost as well. and another man on stage with mitt romney tonight, and his family, all the grand kids, paul ryan. he will be a real litmus test if he is relevant four years from tonight. we well see huh that ideological fight has gone. so, cynthia, names like jeb bush, marco rubio and many others kicked around tonight. but mostly this evening. supporters here just left very sad. >> all right, thank you to you, bill. of course, governor romney should be expecting a call from the white house apparently. thank you so much. this race for the white house has been so close and so hotly contested only yesterday the polls showed the candidatesen a decandidates in a dead heat. what tipped the scales in obama's political favor. matt dowd joins me to explain it

all to us. matt, why did barack obama win this election? whoa voted for him? >> the interesting thing about this race. if you take a look at it over the time period. six months. this race was always at a slight, slight advantage for the president. i think mitt roam was ahead in the popular vote. and then hurricane sandy happened. if you take a really look at this election, the president's approval rating sort of gained ground over the last three months. that approval rating ended election day at 51%. when a president end at 51% they're almost always re-elected. the other thing the right direction country number in the country increased by 25 points over six months, as we went into election day. much better ground for the president to operate under. fundamentally he ran a campaign that targeted certain states. certain groups. and got them out on election day. when he did that, that tea how he won. >> so who was it? >> it was minorities.

changing nature of the country. minorities, nonwhites represented the largest share ever in any election in our history. minorities did. single women. younger voters. and coalition of the folks. he lost white voters. white males worse than any president has lost white males. all those things. lost republicans. he put together the co-legislation of folks that is a growing coalition. he won asian voters the that coalition put him over the top. >> you said earlier tonight if george bush, explain, if george bush's voters had voted. >> that's what is interesting what is going on, in the country. the different demography. if you took george bush, 2004, won by 3, won the electoral college. had him run and got same percent anythings he would have lost the race. that tells you about the country. >> so $6 billion spent on this campaign. yet, look at the results in the senate. we still half a democrat

controlled senate. >> the result, $6 billion. lots of time. lots of effort. barack obama is re-elected. close race. and more democrats and republicans, everybody thought the republicans had a chance to take over the senate. the republican house is going to be almost exactly the same. so what you learn abut thout th. people are forced into two choices. choose from two parties. not all way satisfactory. that's the choice they have. people put on jerseys. doesn't matter what their name is. the color of the jersey. the country divides. >> we heard the president say in his speech, he wants to reach across the island govern the country. wants to bring us together. any chance of that? >> well i think there is a chance if he really does it. i said earlier tonight in the evening. as the election unfolded. he should go back and redo what he said he would do four years ago. when all the things many of us thought he was going to do,

bring us together and unite us. we became more polarized. he can do it. can't believe it as a speech within tonight. within days he has to go back to congress and say, listen, i am welling to work with you. do it for the sake of the country. word are good. actions are the only way. >> will republicans meet him halfway. >> the only person that can force him to do it. is him. if he pushes on it. the republican party is in a desperate situation today. they do not match the country anymore. they can't lose asians, can't lose young women. can't lose will ep as a whole. >> in 30 second. what did we learn about america tonight? >> we are an extremely divided country. young/old. we are divided male/female. people that go to church every sunday/people that don't. minority/white. that divide we have to figure out some way to bring it together and solve it. that they what we learned today. a divided country that needs to

come together. >> can it happen? >> it can happen. incumbent. some kind of camp david peace conference amongst ourselves. stop the divide to solve huge problems that face us. >> matt dowd. what a night. you have had a long night. get some sleep. >> it's been fun. >> thank you for joining us. a final note, as of right now, abc news determined the florida presidential election is still too close to call. we're going to keep you updated as we learn more. thank you for watching abc new. "good morning america" will have all of the latest results in the morning. we're always on line at abcnews.com. good night, america. jimmy kimmel right here next!

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this morning on a special edition of "world news now" -- the re-election of president barack obama. >> we know in our hearts that for the united states of america, the best is yet to come. [ cheers and applause ] >> it was a sweeping electoral win, and now, his first job for a second term helping put more americans back to work and steering the course to a stronger economy.

>> we are an american family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one group. >> with the congratulations of his challenger. >> this is a toime of great challenges for america and pray the president will be successful in guiding our nation. >> and the confidence of his supporters. and with the long, bitter election battle over, this morning, president barack obama sets his sights on four more years in the white house. today is wednesday, november 7th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." good morning wednesday morning, everyone. the country has spoken dough sigh siedough -- spoken decisively. the president will get to keep his job after sweeping the key battleground states. >> what an evening, night, morning it has been. army this morning, president barack obama promised americans

the best is yet to come. we begin the coverage this half-hour with abc's karen travers live with team obama in chicago. >> reporter: here in chicago the mood has been electric. the crowd erupted into thunderous applause when the networks projected the president had won ohio and thus had been re-elected. the president didn't just win ohio, he held his entire midwestern fire wall of wisconsin and iowa. we have been paying so much attention to ohio over the last couple month. a critical state for their strategy. he won virginia, colorado, he won nevada. this has turned into a very big night for president obama. you had the sense from campaign aide early on as the polls started closing that they new things were trend in their direction and they were feeling confident. the president wrote two different speeches for tonight. a victory speech. and a concession speech. he was prepared for any scenario. tonight here in this room,

before nearly 20,000, very excited supporters, he gets to deliver that victory speech. >> we are an american family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: reporting from chicago, obama campaign headquarters, karen travers for abc news. >> i'm brandi hitt in boston where the room fell silent the minute it was announced mitt romney lost the key battleground state of ohio and then the election. supporters here were convinced he would win some of the key battleground states. he just fell short in states like pennsylvania, ohio and also virginia. here is what mitt romney told his supporters after he called president obama to congratulate him. >> this is -- time of great challenges for america and pray the president will be successful in guiding our nation. i so wish -- i so wish that i had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader and so ann and i join with you to earnestly pray for him and for

this great nation. thank you and god bless america. you guys were the best! thank you so much! [ cheers and applause ] thank you! thanks, guys. >> reporter: mitt romney thanked his donors, volunteers and supporters and says beside choosing his wife ann, picking paul ryan as a runningmate was the best decision he has ever made. ron, paula. rob, paula. >> thanks, brandi. democrats have strengthened their control of the senate. the races which changed hand are in indiana and massachusetts. an independent has been elected in maine to succeed retired senator olympia snow. >> one of the closely watched most expensive races there. spending $68 million. >> elizabeth warren, a law professor and former obama

administration adviser, she swept scott brown from office and vowed to fight for the middle-class. >> for every family that has been chipped and squeezed and hammered, we are going to fight for a level playing field and we are going to put people back to work. >> warren becomes the first woman elected to the senate from the state of massachusetts. >> she takes ted kennedy's seat back from scott brown, turns it blue again. democrats spent a lot on that race. trying to carve her out as a national figure. you will hear a lot from elizabeth warren. >> record number of women in the senate. 2013. 18 never happened before. the ups and downs of the campaign have all led to this. what did the president do right what did mitt romney do wrong? >> up next, we sit down with our senior washington editor rick klein. all coming up on "world news now." ♪ so when i found out

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an exciting day, an emotional day, and all those adjectives fit. >> let's get analysis from rick klein, a lot of people want to know, can, can they get anything done in washington now, pretty much everything stays the same. you hear this bipartisan tone. the president saying he is going to invite romney to have a discussion to talk about some idea. >> the voters did not give president obama a mandate. what he can do is create that mandate. i think if he begins to govern like the promise of barack obama in 2008, 2004, at the democratic convention. begins to bring that piece of america together the a broad coalition voted. yes, a divided country. a new america, speaking out, in ape pretty loud voice saying this is the leadership they wanted. what they're craving right now is a leadership moment. that's where the president has an opportunity. >> you did hear a lot of talk

about bipartisanship. head headline, tonight, about how the president, how well he did. despite expectations and pundits nobody expected the electoral gap as wide as it was. how did he turn it out? what led to a convincing victory? >> the perfect combination of demographics and tactics. dem graphing side took advantage of the surge in younger voters, minority voters, bring home hispanics in record numbers. never before, double digit. 10% of the electorate, hispanics. tactics what delivered in the upper midwest, white working class voters did that by destroying the other side, deploying resources to defined other guy. >> fascinating stat. the president won with the least support of white men of any other president ever in the history of the country. what does the election when you look at marijuana, gay marriage, latino issue. at a very distinct point,

culturally, politically, socially and dem graphically in the country? >> you saw revenge of the middle. social, cultural, use, voters coming out saying that is not the party we wanted. this wasn't the extremes of the party dictating it. the vast middle of the country, coming together. rejecting where the republican party has been going over the last couple years. >> do you think the republican party has to look at themselves in the mirror, take a hard look, you look at who the president got great support from. 38 points with, single women. strong latino population. and like he said, with the lowest, voting from white males in, presidential history? >> there is serious soulsear soulsearching going to happen. the problem the path forward is more pessimistic. none of the demographics, are growing dem graphices. they had a chance to eke out one last election using the formula didn't work. back to the drawing board.

>> 2016 you will have to see a different republican if there is any chance for the gop to become relevant again. >> by the end of the week we will be hearing noise about who the person is and direction. maybe by the end of the day. >> rubio, christie. >> how likely do you think bipartisanship will happen with the fiscal cliff end of the year? issue one? >> the time bomb ready to detonate. i do think the president had is a chance. if he comes forward quickly, this is my solution, get the public behind him. use the presidency in way he didn't over four year. then you have a chance to break something. otherwise we have the same congress, the same president, not a lot of people optimistic things will change. >> the man, the myth, the legend, rick klein, thank you for joining us. >> long day. get some sleep. >> thank you, guys. >> still to come, this election morning, more than any before, the election played out on the social media. >> a look at the hottest social media moments of the campaign.

it is all coming up on

social media played a pivotal role in the election last night. twitter and facebook lit up. >> where is my phone?

even the president celebrated the hard fought victory with a simple tweet. the picture, see the president and first lady hugging. he extended the bipartisan tone saying we are all in this together. that's how we campaigned. that's who we are. thank you. signed, b.o. >> b.o. >> barack obama. >> i think i saw some stat where that was the most retweeted, tweet, ever that picture that went out. shows you how social media takes on a life of its own here. also some interesting stats to show you here, thought was interesting. apparently 80% of the people in america get their political news online these days. >> i believe it. >> everyone, hooked into lap tops, cell phones and get all that. >> adhd generation. >> exactly. 80%. very telling stat. also, 20 million tweets. election day just became the most tweeted about event ever in the political history of the country. very telling. the old record from the first debate. the new record surpassed that. 65,000 political tweets per

minute during. i was glued to twitter. most people, their news, what state was going to who, through twitter. then also, instagram, photo site, popular owned by facebook. in terms of the i voted stickers. all of this played out online. incredible numbers. >> when you tweet you have to have #tags, election 2012, and stay in line, finally i voted. then there are other inappropriate ones we will not bring to a family network. thank you, disney. >> off-color things to say. if it was on hbo we would share it too. then also, very interesting video here. a lot of people on guard. video out of pennsylvania of the malfunction with the voting machine. a gentleman was trying to vote for barack obama, but instead, it lit up for mitt romney. of course a lot of fears about voter fraud and problems with the machine. that fed into that.

as the night played on. whateverer use there were, got played out with the electoral landslide it ended up being. >> roseanne barr getting some votes. how about that. you disgust me.

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in his victory speech this morning, president obama said he hopes to meet soon with governor romney to discuss how they can work together down the road. >> the president spoke about the common bond that unites all americans. >> i believe we can keep the promise of our founder, the yad that -- idea if you are willing to work hard it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from or what you look lake or where you love, it doesn't matter if you are black or white or hispanic or asian, or native american, or young, or old, or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight. you can make it here in america! if you are willing to try!

[ cheers and applause ] i believe we can seize this future together! because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. we are not as cynical as the pundits believe! we are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions and we rema remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. we are and forever will be, the united states of america, and together with your help, and god's grace, we will continue our journey forward. >> now after calling the president mitt romney faced somber supporters in boston delivering a brief, five minutes, very gracious concession speech. >> i so wish that i had been able toful fill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction. but the nation chose another leader. so ann and i join with-up to earnestly pray for him and for his great nation. thank you and god bless america.

>> gracious speech. funny too, reports out earlieren the day, they asked the president did you write two speeches. yes, i did, i couldn't take anything for granted. mitt romney, asked, i only wrote one speech, a victory speech that he did not get to deliver here. maybe, a lesson in overconfidence some times. >> he and paul ryan put it on the table. paul ryan retains a seat in wisconsin. paul ryan, a name, republicans and democrats will be hearing about for a while to come. >> once he licks his wound a little bit the he will get back out there. a young guy. that is the news for this half-hour. >> we will leave you with some of the election's most memorable you are watching "world news now." thank you for watching, everybody.

this morning on a special edition of "world news now" -- four more years. president barack obama is re-elected. >> from chicago to times square to the white house, an eruption of joy. >> four more years! the emotion echoing the excitement of four years ago. and in boston a gracious concession from a worthy opponent in the long, hard-fought and extremely expensive race. >> a victorious president obama says "we are all in this together." now the work on the second term, creating more jobs, healing the economy, moving forward with health care reforms begins for president barack obama. >> announcer: from abc news,

this is "world news now." and good wednesday morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. >> i'm paula faris. barack obama has been re-elected president of the united states, declared the winner just after 11:00 eastern last night. winning pretty much all the key battleground states including ohio on his way to clinch the 270 electoral votes that he needed. >> predicted a long night. didn't really end up being one. >> no, not at all. >> -- ended pretty quickly. electoral college, sweeping victory for the president. despite the big margin he won by in the college. the popular vote still a lot closer. that going down to the wire. there you see the crowd outside abc news election headquarters in times square. they went wild when the race was called by the networks. exit polls show the president enjoyed 92% support among democrats. that is the highest on record for democrats since way back in 1976.

speaks to the polarization of the race all along. >> unprecedented. the scene much the same outside the white house. supporters cheering, waving flags, even climbing some trees. the other scene of excitement in chicago. abc's karen travers is there at obama headquarters. hi, karen. >> reporter: here in chicago, the mood has been electric. the crowd erupted into thunderous applause when the networks projected that the president had won ohio and thus had been re-elected. the president didn't just win ohio he held his midwestern fire wall, wisconsin and iowa. we have been paying so much attention to ohio over the last couple months. a critical state for their strategy. he won virginia, colorado, he won nevada. this has turned into a very big night for president obama. you had the sense from campaign aides early on as the polls started closing that they new things were trend in their direction and they were feeling

confident. the president wrote two different speeches for tonight. a victory speech. and a concession speech. he was prepared for any scenario. tonight here in this room, before, newly 20,000, very excited supporters, he gets to deliver that victory speech. >> we are an american family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: reporting from chicago, obama campaign headquarters, karen travers for abc news. >> i'm brandi hitt in boston where the room fell silent the minute it was announced mitt romney lost the key battleground state of ohio and then the election. romney supporters were convinced he would win some of the key battleground states. he just fell short in states like pennsylvania, ohio and also virginia. here is what mitt romney told his supporters after he called president obama to congratulate him. >> this is a time of great challenges for america and pray the president will be successful in guiding our nation. i so wish -- i so wish that i

had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader and so ann and i join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation. thank you and god bless america. you guys were the best! thank you so much! [ cheers and applause ] thank you! thanks, guys. >> reporter: mitt romney thanked his donors, volunteers and supporters and says beside choosing his wife ann, picking paul ryan as a runningmate was the best decision he has ever made. rob and paula. >> a gracious speech. had to be a hard one to make after two years of that kind of schedule. this is why the battleground states were so important. president obama racked up wins in the highly contested states including colorado, new hampshire, pennsylvania, nevada, wisconsin, and virginia. almost a clean sweep there among the battleground. >> didn't really need ohio. the president holding a slight lead in florida, ballots are

still being counted and could probably continue to be counted for a while. the state is too close to call not that it matters. >> few hundred votes separated it. really insane. the popular vote we said incredibly close. president obama, passed mitt romney by a sliver in the nation's popular vote. >> now we don't have final numbers as west coast states are counting ballots including mega state, california. democrats have strengthened their control of the senate taking two seats away from the republicans. the races that changed hands are in the states of indiana and massachusetts. and there is a wild card in maine, independent former governor angus king, elected to succeed retiring republican senator olympia snow. king has not yet said which party he will vote with. definitely you look at it in a nutshell -- obama is re-elected. majority in the house and senate remain. marijuana legalized in two states, colorado and washington. gay marriage is legalized in maryland and maine.

>> look at everything you listed, plus you look at the big role, latino population, played, and obama won the group by 70% you. you have to wonder. i have heard the analysts talk about this all night. time for introspection in the republican party, because maybe slowly getting at a pace where the country is getting. so that party has a lot to deal with over the next few months. coming up next -- the coverage of the election of president obama continues. >> we'll get some perspective on the campaign, the strategy and what lies ahead. stay with us. ♪ ♪ >> announcer: "world news now" weather brought to you by united health care. alth care. every time someone chooses finish over cascade,

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so after all of the rhetoric, the billions of dollars of ad, two so after all of the rhetoric, the billions of dollars of ads, two conventions, three debates, hundreds of rallies and thousand of miles of travel, another presidential election officially right now in the books. >> rhetoric? i don't know what you are talking about. we thought we would share some thoughts about it all from our abc news political analysts we begin with matthew dowd. >> reporter: all the polls were right. the republicans argued against said no we well do it differently. it didn't happen. they're going to have to face the future, there was no leader of the party, and an electorate much to their disadvantage. >> this was a campaign that has always had its doubters. i mean this was a primary where he was sort of, the third,

fourth, fifth choice. we romanced chris christie. we romanced mitch daniels. we fell in love with everybody who wasn't running. as a party. i think that carried over. he never was able to get the monkey off his back. we never stopped doubting him. i think that hurt him. until his stellar performance in the first debate. we didn't believe in him. that took its toll on mitt romney. >> four years ago, voters wanted to make history. this time around they wanted to make a difference. they wanted to make a difference in terms of somebody they felt was on their side to create jobs, somebody, health care, keep the country safe and sound. this is amazing. >> he has some immense challenges ahead. there are huge divides in this country. he has not healed them. if he is going to have a second term that is going to be successful. he has to figure out a way to heal the divide. >> analysis will continue for days and weeks now, post election. all right, coming up next from legalizing marijuana to same-sex marriage, key ballot measures decided around the country.

>> also, after more than 500 days -- can you believe it -- the speeches that capped the long campaign. it is all coming up on "world news now." ♪ >> announcer: "world news now" continues after this from our abc stations.

welcome back, everybody.

time to hear more now from the candidates themselves. >> first up, the newly re-elected president obama. >> i believe we can keep the promise of our founding, the idea if you are willing to work hard it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love, it doesn't matter whether you are black or white or hispanic or asian, or native american, or young, or old, or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in america! if you are willing to try! i believe we can seize this future together! because we are not as divided as our politics suggests! we're not as cynical as the pundits believe! we are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions. and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. we are and forever will be the united states of america!

and together, with your help and god's grace, we will continue our journey forward. >> earlier mitt romney spoke to supporters in boston. >> he said the nation is at a critical point. >> i have just called president obama to congratulate him on his victory, his supporters and his campaign, also deserve congratulations. i wish all of them well, but particularly, the president, the first lady and their daughters. this is a time of great challenges for america and i pray that the president will be successful guiding our nation. the nation is at a critical point. at a time like this we can't risk bickering and posturing. our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people's work. we look at democrats and

republicans in government to put the people before the politics. i believe in america, i believe in the people of america. >> and, we turn to the senate races. the battle for the senate seat in massachusetts was among the most closely watched and most expensive races in the entire country. candidate spent a combined total of $68 million on that campaign. >> elizabeth warren, harvard law professor, swept incumbent scott brown from office. the contest for senate in connecticut was a big money race, democrat christopher murphy, defeated former wrestling executive linda mcmahon. >> her second defeat in two tries. spent $100 million of her own money in the losing efforts. moving to missouri now, claire mccaskill has beaten back republican challenge from todd aiken. you may recognize that name. >> yes, it was a legitimate win

over him. aiken talked about pregnancies resulting from what he called legitimate rape. >> both candidates who made controversial abortion remarks lost tonight. they did. it does appear congress will remain divided with republicans keeping control in the house. 435 races, republicans have won 209 seats. leading in the races for 29 seats. >> the democrats have won 155 seats. they're leading in the races for 39 seats. but at the end of the day, you still have the majority republicans in the house. majority democrats in the senate. interesting tidbit from jonathan karl. he said nancy pelosi is rather than retire, rather than continue as minority leader. potential changes from the upper echelon. >> a shake-up after election. interesting to see if they can go back to capitol hill and practice the bipartisanship they

preach about. boehner, said this was not a mandate. popular vote, very close. hopefully the president has gotten the message. close, popular, and congress got the message they re-elected the president they have to got together and work it out. that's what americans want to see. in case you are wondering thought the list was fascinating, the groups that staunchly supported the president could be the reason he got re-elected. folks in order here by numerical support. top five groups, thought the country headed in the right direction, big supporters, african-americans, as expected. big supporters. democrats, best in 76, party loyalty. those who felt economy was moving in a positive direction, they went heavy for the president, those who thought the economy was getting better went for the president. he did well among those that thought romney's policies would benefit the wealthy. >> huge lead among unmarried women. 38 points for the president. definitely opened it up there. 10% of the latino vote.

latino vote, comprised 10% of the vote. >> first time in double digits. overwhelmingly, went for president obama, in his speech, mentioned again we have to do what we can in terms of immigration and getting that actually going. >> we'll see. again, a lot of talk tonight. see what happens on capitol hill. >> just see some hugging. please. >> yeah. as millions went to the polls tuesday. no surprise here. everything did not go off without a hitch. >> most hassles were isolated. none appeared that substantial. many voters expressing frustration. >> i'm actually late for work right now. it's about two hours. the lines were in shambles. it was crazy. >> i have been to this poll several times, but today the line was poorly organized. >> i can attest to that as well. even before lunchtime tuesday, a handful of partisan voting disputes started spilling into

courtrooms. most legal battles were in swing states. no surprise there. >> the legal battles don't mean much, the victory so lopsided electorally. turnout was strong throughout the country. a good sign in parts of new york and new jersey. of course, battered by hurricane sandy. >> thousand could not vote at usual poll locations, they took buses or shared ride. many said it felt like a return to normalcy, a change from the on going crisis. only thing i have. lost my home, everything, only had my freedom to vote. >> had to be a welcome distraction. folks in the dark. a week later. colorado and washington have become the first states in the country to legalize, recreational marijuana use. >> what did you say? >> recreational marijuana use. >> it will allow adults to possess small amounts of pot. >> a federal law in place. now the issue will likely end up in front of the supreme court.

a similar initiative was rejected by voters in oregon. >> much more on that you can believe. for the first time, same-sex marriage approved by popular vote with ballot initiatives passing in maryland and maine. still too early to tell if washington, itself, will follow suit. but voters in minnesota said no to placing a ban on gay marriage in the state's constitution. >> californians voted for repeal to the death penalty. the sentences of 700 death row prisoners will now be changed to life in prison. in oklahoma they voted to wipe out all affirmative action programs in state government hiring, education, and contracting practices. also a coup for all the women out there. we will have a record number of women in the senate. beginning in 2013, i believe. 18 is the number. >> i believe also the first openly gay female senator. >> that's right. first lbgt. >> interesting. get more. the days move along. interesting firsts.

in other news, the north east is bracing for another major storm today. airlines canceling flights. much more on that. the nor'easter on the way to a hard hit area. we'll have that and a lot more after abc comes right back after the break. a lot more after abc comes right back after the break. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide to help you better understand what medicare is all about. and which aarp medicare supplement plan works best for you. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral to see a specialist. there's a range of plans to choose from, too. and they all travel with you.

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can clean better than mops in half the time swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. well areas hard hit well areas hard hit by hurricane sandy last week are bracing for a second punch from mother nature today. >> that's right, a nor'easter packing heavy winds, rain and snow has much of new york and new jersey on high alert. some residents in parts of staten island, new york are being told they should evacuate. hundred of nursing home residents along the coast in queens have been relocated. as we head forward through the day, what can we expect? the system moving faster than it first anticipated.

through the morning hours, starting to see rain, strong gusty wind out of north-northeast. hence the term nor'easter here. could be significant coastal flooding, beach erosion. impact in the same areas impacted by sandy. this know it sandy. heavy rain. snow inland. philadelphia, light accumulations with snow. rob, paula. back to you. >> rough day. here we go. a recap of our top story. president obama has secured another four years in the white house. >> governor mitt romney conceded the race just before 1:00 this morning eastern following a phone call to the president. in his short concession speech, roughly 5 minutes. romney wished the president well in guiding the nation. >> the president took his turn at the podium in chicago just a short time later. and promised to reach out to the other side in the second term. and democrats have strengthened their control of the senate by taking two seats away from the

republicans. the races that changed hand are, in indiana, and in the state of massachusetts. >> get there, a wild card in maine. independent former governor, angus king elected to succeed, retired senator olympia snow. he has not said what party hill e will vote with. >> there will be lobbying on both side to come over. for sure, what a fascinating night. really was. nobody quite saw it like it was. close, highly contested. the popular vote does reflect that. tau a >> romney advisers were stunned and shocked. had no idea this was coming. they seemed blindsided. >> both side thought they were going to win. one side was going to be happy, other side, disappointed. it is what it is. that is our news for this half-hour. >> we'll leave you with some of the election's most memorable images. you are watching "world news now." ♪ ♪